Pea-viner.



C. H. PLUMMER.

PEA VINER.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 29. I916.

Patented June 11, 1918.

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I QM C. H. PLUMMER.

PEA VINER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1916.

Patented June 11, 1918.

3 SHEETS SHEET 2- olttornga C. H. PLUMMER.

PEA VINER.

APPLICATION FILED mm 29. me.

1 ,269,2 1 1 Patented J um 11, 1918.

@ZZWMXM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE H. PLUMMER, OF KE'WAUNEE. WISCONSIN.

PEA-VINEB.

21 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June I '1, 1918- Application filed May 29, 1916. SerlalNo. 100,432.

7?) all whom. it may concern.

lie it known that I. CLARENCE H. PLUM- Mnn, a citizen of the lnited States, residing at the city of Kewaunee, county of Kewaunee, and State of \Visoonsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in lee- Viners. of which the following a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for shelling and removing green peas from their pods and vines.

The practice heretofore has been to place the pods and vines within s rotary drum along which they are fed longitudinally and repeatedly lifted by the rotation of the drum and dropped into the path of an interior set of heating wings, who! eh the pens are separated from the pods by impact of the wings upon the pods while the latter are in mid air. Them machines have been quite, successful in hrealiing' or splitting the pods without erushin r the peas. but it has been found that after t we peas have been separated from the pods, a considerable number of the free peas will he carried around and again sub jttlfltl to the heating operation, and these peas frequently become crushed against the vines and pods and also against the walls of the drum to whirl: they are thrown by the. h aters Attempt s have been made to ovewoniethis dithenli by perforating the walls of the drum in (rider to allow the free pens to cS rape. but this has only partially overcome the dillirulty, for the reason that many of the pens are entrained in the pods and vines and fail to reach the perforations or openings in the walls of the drum before being again elevated and subject-ed to one or more fi(l(lli'-lt'lllll.l bratino operations. For this row son. it has hereto ore been found imposssible to ovoid crushing, breaking or bruising a. considerable percentage of the peas.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide means whereby the pods and vines are suhiected to repeated shaking; operations; after each heating 0 ioration and under conditions whereby the free peas are not only shaken out fronnthe other material, but are allowed to drop by gravity upon an inrlined surfare down which the are permitted to roll freely to the exterior, the remaining material being again elevated and rodclivored to the heaters.

A further object of my ii'ivenlion is to pro vide means whereby impacts of the free peas upon the surfaces against which-Hwy are thrown when initially separated from the pods, may be reduced to a minimum, the surfaces against which they are thrown be ing comparatively soft and adapted to yield under such impacts.

In the drawings" Figure 1 is a vertical section, drawn on line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. .2 is a vertical section, drawn on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, drawn on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Like parts are identified by the. some ref erence characters throughout the several views.

The material, 5. the pea vines, including the unopened pods, is fed into one end of the machine from the platform 1, as best shown in Fig. 2. This material is received upon a set of interior feeding bars 2, the upper surfaces of which are serrated and adapted to feed the material rearwardly when the bars are reciprocated, as hereinafter explained. The material is delivered by these bars to the lower end portion of an elevator or elevating conveyor, comprising an endless belt or apron 3, provided with flights or vine lifting members 4, which are adapted to engage the material and carry it upwardly. The material thus elevated passes between the apron and an angular shield or plate 8, the upper portion of which projects forwardly. The conveyor apron also travels alon this portion of the shield and the materif is then supported by the shield and scraped along the shield by the apron until it reaches the. upper margin of the shield, whereupon it is permitted to drop into the path of a set of beater v ings 5 rigidly mounted upon a rcvoluble drum 6, said drum being revolved with suflicient rapidity to cause the wings 5 to strike. the. material in rapid succession While the latter is in mid air. The in'ipacls delivered by the wings 5 upon the pods. breaks them open and releases the peas. The heating action of the wings 5 will of course tend tothrow the material toward the up per and front portion of the machine, Each of the wings has a slight angular pitch. where-hr the. material is not only thrown forwardly. but is also fed longitudinally toward the outlet; end of the machine The forward movement of the vines is checked by a longitudinal series of fin ers 11, dependin from the upper portion ot the frame and w ereby the vines are again directed downwardly The into the path of the beater win shelled peas, however, are pcrmittet hto between these fingers.

The fingers may be composed of flexible material, whereby the peas will not be split or broken upon striking them. They are also narrow and are so spaced that the shelled peas may easily pass between them, While the motion of the vines and the pods is arrested. The peas assing between the fingers 11 are permitte to strike upon the non metallic and preferably flexible wall 9, which may be com osed of canvas, secured at intervals to the rame i!) of the machine. The vines and pods which are thrown by the beater wings 5 pass in front of the fingers 11, are received upon another set of shaking fingers 19 which project inwardly through openings in the canvas wall of the machine with a downward inclination in the direction of the beater. These fingers are vi brated, preferably in a vertical plane, whereby the dropping peas are shaken out from the other material and allowed to pass through between the fingers and down wardly to an inclined apron conveyor 6. This conveyer extends inwardly and up wardly from the front of the machine, and the upper surface of the apron travels in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. The inclination, however, is suflicient to permit the peas to roll downwardly to the lower end of the apron and ceiver 7 Fragments of vine and pods which drop to this apron will be carried upwardly and rearwardly and delivered over the rear end of the convcyer to thc elevating conveyor 3.

The shelled peas dropping through the spaces between the fingers 12 may be di rected toward the front side of the machine by a segmental shield or guide 25. the upper margin of which is capped by a longitudinally extending roller :20 actuated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the object of the roller 26 being to prevent vines or fragments of vines from lodging on the up 191 margin of the shield 25. The peas w ich pass in front of the shield 25 between it and the front wall or canvas covering of the drum, are thus protected from the beater wings, but the vines and pods which do not pass through between the tingcrs 12 are rcdclivcrcd to the beater wings and are carried downwardly between t e beater drum and the shield 25 and thrown upon third and fourth sets of fingers l3 and 14 respectively, these fingers being also vibrated. The fingers 12. 13 and 14 are pivotally supported from the frame by pivot shafts 12 13', and 14', to which the fingers drop into a re the construction shown, the carrier chains are rigidly secured. Each of these pivot shafts or rods 12', 13 and 14' is provided with a rcarwardly projecting arm 40, through which motion is transmitted to vibrate the fingers from an actuatin shaft 41, provided with eccentrics 15, one 0% which transmits motion to the upper arm 40 and vibrating fingers 12 through the connecting rod 19, whereas the other eccentric transmits motion through connecting rod 20 and its extension 21 to the lower arms 40 ertaining to the vibrating fingers 13 an 14 respectively. The fingers 13 and 14 are downwardly and forwardly inclined and adapted to slowly feed the material forwardly and redeliver it to the shaking bars 2 after repeatedly shaking the material to facilitate the escape of the shelled peas there from Owing to the fact that the fingers 13 are nearly horizontal and the movement of the materialslow, there is a tendency for the juice or sap escaping from the broken vines and pods to cause an accumulation on these fingers, or fragments of fiber, pieces of pods and dirt. which tend to clog and fill the spaces between the fingers and eventually prevent. the passage of peas between them. To overcome this tendency, I employ a comb 43 carried upon a set of revolving chains 44, which travel over supportin pulleys or sprocket Wheels 45. This com extends longitudinally of the machine and the fingers or prongs thereof project upwardly between the fingers 13, whereby accumulations of material are scraped or combed out from between said fingers. In

44 support only one comb. This will ordinarily be sufiicient even though the chains 44 may be slowly driven, since the accumulations of material on the fingers are not very rapid. It is desirable that the chains and comb be placed in as close proximity to the shaking fingers 13 as is practical in order that short combing fingers may be used. In order to avoid interference with the vibratory movements of the fingers 13 in case the comb should be in a position registering with the inner or rear ends of the fingers during the downward movement of the latter, the inner or rear shaft- 45 may be yieldingly supported. This, however, is not strictly necessary as the chains will ordinarily not be tight enough to prevent the comb from yielding.

It will of course be understood that the material rcdelivcrcd from the fingers l3 and 14 or thrown by the heaters 5 to the shaking bars .2, will be shaken by these bars and re delivered to the elevating convcyer 3. whereby the material is again lifted along the rear side of the machine and again d'elivered into the path of the beating wings from above the upper margin of the shield the drawings.

8. But owing to the fact. that the beater wings 5 have an angular pitch, adapted to feed the material longitudinally. it is obi-"n ous that. the material thus redelivered from the elevator 3 will be received by the beater wings at a point more distant from the inlet end of the machine than the freshly delivered material, so that the operation of feeding fresh material into the machine may be continuous and each successive beating op eration carried on without interfering with any other heating operations, each successive heating or shelling operation being performed nearer to the vine outlet than the preceding one, the vine outlet B being located at the end of the machine opposite that haring the inlet adjacent to the plat form 1.

The shaking bars 2 are actuated from the shaft 29 through the eccentrics 30 and connecting rods 30. Those shaking bars 2 are preferably actuated in alternation. The front ends of the bars are adapted to slide upon a. supporting: rod 31. The connecting rods 30' are rigidly connected with the rear ends of the bars respectively. whereby these ends of the bars travel in a circular path. The bars are. therefore adapted to not only feed the material rearwardly but also cooperate with the shaking fingers in agitating the material and separating the shelled peas therefrom.

The endless apron 3 of the elevating conits margins supported by end around which the apron travels n. of an endless belt. hlarginal l and determine the path the apron i avels on its front or n: emplorcd to determine the path of the apron on tin ar or return side. The guide rollers S-l and are so disposed that the receiving portion of the apron 3 between these rollers is upwardly and rearwardly inclined.

whereas the portion above the roller 35 inclines forwardly and is substantially parallel to the upper portion of the shield 8.

The. actuating connections whereby the machine is operated, are not illustrated in These connections may he of any ordinary construction. Preferably motion is communicated from a suitable source of power to the. drum supporting shaft 37 and from this shaft to the other moving .1: of the machine by ordinary belts, chains or gearing.

llrietiy reviewing the operation of the hine. it will be understood that the mait fed into one end of the machine i. Fill the platform 1. delivered by the shal inn? li rs. 2 to the elevating conveyor 3. from lrw'l: 2.. is permitted to drop into the path of the beating wings, after which it is beaten, thrown by the beatim; wings and .rerleln'ered thereto successively from the fingets 11 and 12, and then thrown to the fingers 13 and 14, which redelivers it to the shaking bars 2 at a point longitudinally distant from the inlet. These bars redeliver the residue of the material to the elevating conveyor 3 and the series of heating operations is thereupon repeated, the free peas being removed after each heating operation,

as above explained, and allowed to drop to the apron 6, down which they roll to the exterior at. the front of the machine. The front of the machine is entirely open below the shaking fingers 13, whereby the peas are permitted to freely escape downwardly and forwardly. The drum 6 may have flexible or non metallic walls, whereby any peas which strike the drum will escape injury. In the ordinary machines, these walls are frequently perforate, comprising an open screen or mesh. I do not, however. limit the scope of my invention to any specific features of the drum. and I desire to be understood as designating the various parts of my machine merely for the purpose of description, the terms and designiations em ployed not being used for the purpose of limitation, as it is not my intention to exelude from the scope of my invention any mechanical equivalents for the features of M invention disclosed.

I claim- 1. A pea viner, comprising the combination with a drum having peripheral heaters. of a belt elevator at one side of the drum. adapted to repeatedly lift and drop material into the path of the heaters. and means for shaking the material to separate shelled peas from the other material after each heating operation and preparatory to the next lift ing operation.

2. In a pea riner wherein separation of the peas from the pods is effected by impact upon the pods while the latter are falling: in free air. the combination with the means for imparting pea shelling: impacts to the pods and vines. of an elevator for lifting and returning them to the impact mechanism for rte-shelling operations. and menus. independent, of the impart mechanism. 1' or Shaking the pods and ."lllQS after each inn pact thereon to remove. the peas as fast as they are shelled.

3. In a. pea viner. the combination of (lm vices for beating pods and vines while drop ping by gravity in free air, means for sun cessively lifting the pods and vine-s while outside of the range of the beating; devices and dropping them repeatedly into the path of said beating; devices, and separate means for agitating the pods and vines and shaking out the free peas after each dropping opera tion and preparatory to a succeeding lifting and dropping operation.

4. In a pen viner. the comb nation of a rotary member provided .*:ith projecting beater wings, means for elevating pods and vines and dropping them into the path of the beater wings, and agitators adapted to receive pods and vines thrown by the beater wings, and adapted to shake out the shelled peas; said agitators being adapted to redeliver said pods and vines into the path of the beater wings.

5. In a pea viner, the combination of a rotary member provided with projecting beater win and a belt elevator located along one side thereof and adapted to elevate vines and pods and drop them into the path of the beater wings, together with means for returning the vines and pods to the elevator after each set of beating operations until substantially all the peas are shelled, and an inclined support down which the peas are permitted to roll from the machine as soon separated.

6. In a pea viner, the combination of a rotary member provided with projecting beater wings and an elevator located along one side thereof and adapted to elevate vines and pods and drop them itno the path of the beating wings, together with means for shaking and returning the vines and pods to the elevator, until substantially all the peas are shelled, and means for allowing the shelled peas to escape from the machine after each heating operation.

7. In a pea viner, the combination of a rotary member provided with projectingbeater wings and an elevator located along one side thereof and adapted to elevate vines and pods and drop them into the path of the beater wings, together with means for returning the vines and pods to the elevator after each heating operation, until substantially all the peas are shelled, means, located out of the path of the heaters for shaking the vines and pods, and means for directin the shelled peas away from the elevating and beating mechanisms during the shaking process, whereby the vines and pods may be returned to the elevator, independently of the shelled peas.

8. In a pea viner, the combination of a revoluble drum. an annular series of beater blades attached to said drum, means for revolving said drum and series of blades at a speed sutiicient to shell peas by impact, an endless conveyor provided with a plurality of lifting members, said conveyer extending upwardly along the side and partially over said revoluble drum, and means for conveying pea vines and pods to said conveyer, said beater bein adapted to strike the pea vines and pods 1n mid air as the latter are delivered from said conve er, and means, independent of the beater, or separating and delivering the shelled peas to the exterior of said machine, as soon as they are shelled.

9. In a pea viner, the combination of vine dropping apparatus, vine beating apparatus and vine shaking apparatus, said vine shaking apparatus being arranged to receive the vines from the beating apparatus and return the same to the dropping apparatus after shaking out the shelled. peas and said beating apparatus being arran to operate upon the dropping vines to 1mpa1. impacts thereto while the vines are entirely free to move with the beating devices.

10. In a pea viner, the combination with beater mechanism, of a series of shaking fingers adapted to shake the vines and pods as they pass from the beater mechanism, means for a lowing the shelled peas to pass from the machine as fast as they become shelled, said shaking means being adapted to return the vines and pods to the beating mechanism and drop them by gravity into the path of the heaters for a reshelling operation.

11. In a pea viner the combination of an endless apron, means for retaining-pea vines againts the lower side the endless apron preparatory to dropping the same, whereby such vines are struck in mid air by a revolving series of boaters, and means for re moving the shelled peas from the machine as fast as they are removed from their pods and vines.

12. In a pea viner, the combination with shelling apparatus, of an inclined endless apron conveyer upon which shelled peas are free to drop and roll from the machine to the exterior, vine shaking apparatus interposed between th shelling apparatus and said apron, a pair of angular shafts for supporting the respective ends of said endless apron, said angular shafts being adapted to simultaneously shake said apron as the latter is being moved forward over said shafts, and said conveyor being actuated to feed the fragments of vines and pods thereon toward the receiving portion 0 the viner.

13. In a pea viner, the combination with a beater inclosing frame, of mechanism adapted to operate wholly by impact upon the vines and pods, a lurality of shaking fingers, a revoluble sha t, eccentrics connect ed with said shaft, and means for commit nicating motion from said eccentrics to said shaking fingers, whereby the pea vines are shaken they are delivered from said beating mechanism, and means for automatically returning the vines to the beating mechanism after each shaking operation.

14. In a pea viner, the combination of de vices for successively beating the pods and vines while dropping by gravity in free air. and vibratory means for agitating the pods and vines and removing the free peas therefrom in the intervals between said dropping operations.

15. In a pea viner, the combination of devices for beating the pods and vines while dropping by gravity in free air, vibratory ins agitating devices. adapted to receive the pods In testimony whereof I afiix my signature and vines delivered from the beating dein the presence of two witnesses. vices and arranged to shake out the free peas CLARENCE H PLUMMER therefrom, and means for automatically redelivering the pods and vines into the path Witnesses:

of the beating devices for a reheating opera- EDWARD SEYK, tion. G. C. ROBILLARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Estate, Washington, D. 0." 

